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I started out as an economics major after being pushed into it by my family. However, I never had much of an interest in this subject. I was going through a very rough time in the first two years and I never excelled much in economics and I did not care about what was happening to me. However, a math professor who is my current thesis supervisor encouraged me to look into the math department and that's when I thought about finally majoring in a subject I actually cared about and doing something for myself. Thus, I ended up double majoring in mathematics and I started finally feeling somewhat invested into my own future. I have done quite well in my second major (mathematics) and I hope to do a master's in either mathematics or statistics in France or Germany.

However, I am worried if I can even get into a good grad school as my grades in economics are not very good.

  1. I have no idea how grad school admissions look into double majors. How will my case be considered if I want to do a master's in mathematics? Will my performance in economics adversely affect my chances of getting into a good grad school?
  2. Is it recommended that I retake some economics courses I haven't done well in? I really don't want to. I would prefer to use that time to study more mathematics and preparing for grad school which is a cumbersome process in itself and retaking would also mean more finances behind a subject I don't care about. But if it comes down to that then I will have to give it a try.
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  • This is my first post here and if I have made any mistakes or failed to explain something in a manner that can help to prompt any answer/advice to my problems then please let me know. Downvoting for stating an academic problem I'm facing without providing any explanation to a newcomer here makes very little sense. I thought the point of engaging in communities like this one is to help out one another, maybe I'm wrong.
    – Alexis Chang
    Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 9:50

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If your second major (economics) is not related to the graduate program (pure? math), your performance in the second major will be viewed the same way as your performance in elective courses. It is not that important but it will count towards any GPA cutoff.

If you were applying for a graduate program in economics with an intent to do quantitative research, bad math grades would be more important because math is used in some economics.

I would not recommend retaking a specialized course you do not plan to use for anything unless you would enjoy it. It would be more efficient to take a course that is useful and also increases your GPA.

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  • I only have my thesis left and since I still have about a semester left I am on the fence about retaking any past eco courses that might improve my gpa. From your advice it seems that it's recommended to not retake any economics courses. I wonder how the admissions office will evaluate my transcript if I want to apply for higher studies in mathematics and to what extent a good gre score can balance out the bump in my cumulative gpa due to my the situation with my eco major. Some insight into that would be helpful.
    – Alexis Chang
    Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 9:56
  • Apply and you will find out.
    – Anonymous Physicist
    Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 10:01
  • I am just uncertain whether I'm making the right decisions and my academic advisors are not very helpful. Thanks for the encouragement, I guess there's no option other than just going for it.
    – Alexis Chang
    Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 10:03

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